Motspur Park

The Club and its Craven Cottage home are indelibly linked but in recent years a second base in Surrey has taken on an increasing prominence.

Motspur Park was established as the Club's permanent Training Ground in 1999 and in the period since it has grown into a state-of-the-art sporting facility and the central location for over 150 members of staff.

Much like Craven Cottage, it has developed while retaining the charm and character of its 1920s origins as a sports ground for the University of London.

The University spent £18,000 to acquire what was then unspoilt countryside and almost as much again on levelling and drainage works that helped to establish Motspur Park as a top class facility.

Its athletics track quickly gained a reputation as one of the fastest in the country and it was here that Stanley Wooderson set a world mile record of 4:06.4 in a handicap race.

Although the cinder track is long gone, its curved sweep remains a feature of the present Arena Pitch, as indeed does a home straight that accounts for the large divide between the near touchline and the stand.

The Arena Pitch is commonly used for First Team training sessions and Under 21 Squad fixtures and the stand has been extended to provide a restaurant, players lounge and medical facilities.

Five other playing surfaces are numbered (anti clockwise) around the site, with an Astroturf area providing the final piece in the Motspur Park pitch puzzle.

The First Team training pitches are fibre-sand based and major works are carried out each summer to maintain a high calibre playing surface. The Club Academy is based and play fixtures at Motspur Park. In partnership with the Fulham FC Foundation, the Fulham Deaf Team and local groups also make regular use of the facilities.

It is not only Fulham's own stars who have graced the pitches at Motspur Park. As the range and quality of facilities has increased, so too has the number of external visitors to the Training Ground. A number of international teams have held training sessions at Motspur Park, including Brazil, Colombia, England, South Korea and Sweden, often ahead of international fixtures at the Cottage.

In recent years training camps for the Soccer Aid charity matches have also heralded the arrival of an array of famous players, musicians, politicians and celebrities. Film crews have also set the cameras rolling, capturing scenes for motion pictures including The Games (1970). The arena stand was used in the film Chariots of Fire (1981) which was produced by Dodi Fayed.